‘Standard operating procedure’ for Israel to step up attacks amid ceasefire talks
Rami Khouri, a distinguished fellow at the American University of Beirut, says this is Israel’s “failed strategy” that it has used for “many months now and for many years”. The strategy is to “inflict massive, cruel punishment on the Palestinians – killing them, isolating them,” Khouri told Al Jazeera.
“They’re doing this at a far greater scale than ever before, wiping out any mechanisms that would support life in Gaza, expecting that the Palestinians in Gaza would turn against Hamas and would push to surrender,” he said. “That’s never happened, not only in Gaza … but anywhere in the world.”
This is “standard operating procedure for the Israelis,” Khouri added. “When people are subjugated, they resist, when people are occupied, they resist … and when people are subject to a genocide, they resist at far greater means.”
Israel’s attacks in Gaza ‘meant to sabotage prospects’ of a ceasefire deal
Mouin Rabbani, a Middle East analyst and co-editor of the online publication Jadaliyya, does not think Israel is interested in a ceasefire in Gaza.
“No leadership likes to preside over military failure, and certainly, not Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who … will now be remembered most of all for his failures on October 7th, and his failures in the year thereafter to achieve anything of military significance,” Rabbani told Al Jazeera.
While Israel claims increased attacks in Gaza are designed to increase pressure on Hamas to agree to a deal, it is, in fact, “meant to sabotage the prospects of a deal without having to take direct responsibility,” Rabbani said.
Among Israel’s objectives is to “kill massive numbers of people, in this case, taking out its rage against the civilian population because it’s unable to get to the leaders of the Hamas movements and other factions,” he said.
While the US remains a key mediating partner in the indirect negotiations, Rabbani said it is “very difficult for Americans to achieve their objective when they’re constantly allowing Israel to undermine it”.
Hamas calls for worldwide rallies following Israel’s attack on Khan Younis school
Hamas has called on people around the world to march in protest of Israel’s attack on the al-Awda school near the southern city of Khan Younis that killed dozens of Palestinians who were sheltering there.
In a statement, the group decried the attack and said it was the latest addition to “the genocide and massacres” being waged against Palestinians. It called on people in the “Arab, Islamic, and free world” to renew protests in support of Palestinians.
The group called on people to “go out immediately, fill streets and squares with rallies and demonstrations in every city around the world to increase pressure” on Israel to end its ongoing assault on Gaza.
Hamas also called on residents of the occupied West Bank to “activate all tools of support … and escalate participation in battles associated with Operation al-Aqsa Flood”.
In ceasefire talks, ‘a lot of gaps left to bridge’
Sources speaking anonymously to media have said that there was agreement on a wide variety of points, but there are still a lot of gaps left to bridge. And it comes as there will be continued discussions tomorrow (Wednesday) in the Qatari capital, Doha, followed by more meetings in Cairo on Thursday.
It comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday released a statement with a list of non-negotiables. This statement was slammed by several Israeli lawmakers and anonymous officials who said that this is not the way to go into negotiations.
Hamas released its own statement saying that continued military action in northern Gaza is going to derail the talks, but also that Israel is not willing to be flexible. After this, we heard from the White House, the US National Security spokesperson John Kirby, who said that despite the statements given to the media by both sides, there is significant progress in these negotiations.
Even with that said, we are still nowhere closer to a deal, as mediators are still trying their best behind the scenes to fill the gaps in the areas where there are heavy disagreements and sticking points.
